New Belgium Fat Tire

Good stories are hard to come by. I pride myself at being a decent storyteller and thoroughly enjoy a well-spun yarn. Stories add history, context, and flavor to common occurrences. Remind me later about how a lightning storm almost killed me and my friends last summer. It’s a doozy.

Sometimes, beer has a terrific story. Let’s take New Belgium‘s Fat Tire. Jeff Lebesch spent a period of his life bicycling around Europe on his mountain bike on a great beer adventure. Eventually, he bought a blueprint for a brewery in Belgium, moved back to Fort Collins, Colorado, built a brewery, and started making beer that is now distributed nationwide. Now, in Europe, mountain bikes are not common. Lebesch’s bike had “fat tires,” and the rest is, as they say, history.

In the end, having wide tires on your bike probably won’t make you as successful of a brewer as Jeff Lebesch (although, I do have wide tires on my bike, if destiny is watching), it worked for him, and he made a fine amber ale. The Fat Tire has the same deep brownish amber as other ambers do but is much smoother than the average amber ale. There is a light bitterness, but the malt brings a creamy caramel finish with hits of almonds. From introduction to conclusion (see what I did there?), the Fat Tire gives an incredibly drinkable and enjoyable flavor adventure.

However, don’t get to distracted by conversation around you. I let mine get a little too warm because I was talking too much while drinking, and then it became a little unpleasant, like any beer would. Like any story, you need to know when to finish it. But, luckily, you can always start another one.